Time to investigate human visual shape perception and recognition

是时候研究人类视觉形状感知和识别了

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-04327
• 负责人: Arguin, Martin
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Université de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=763728
• 关键词: Time; investigate; human; visual; shape

The research proposed aims to determine the nature and time course of the visual information subtending the early routing of processing toward category-specialized mechanisms for visual object recognition (VOR) in humans and the operation of category-specialized mechanisms for the visual recognition of items in terms of their unique identity. We also aim to investigate the functional impact of growing receptive field sizes as processing moves up the hierarchy of visual areas in the human cortex. These studies will help resolve outstanding issues pertaining to our understanding of some of the most fundamental features of the human VOR system. To determine processing time course, we will be using a new psychophysical technique we have developed, which is random temporal sampling [see ref. 2]. This method can reveal how processing effectiveness evolves through time as well as temporal features of processing which are extremely replicable across individuals and also highly discriminant of the stimulus class and/or task participants perform. Regarding the visual information subtending VOR, two approaches will be used. One is the analysis of the spatial features of a large collection of images from different categories (faces, places, objects, and words) using discrete wavelet decomposition (DWT). The interest of DWT is that images are processed by a local operator (Daubechies wavelet) which provides localized information about the scale (i.e. spatial extent) and orientation of image contrasts. These functional features match those of the human primary visual cortex (V1). The DWT image descriptions will serve to characterize the visual contrasts between stimulus categories as well as the types of discrimination required for stimulus identification in these categories. The other method is the ideal observer model with either unlimited processing capacity or with an access to visual information restricted similarly to human low-level visual encoding (i.e. contrast-sensitivity function, oblique effect and reduction of visual acuity with increasing eccentricity). Divergences between the results of human participants and the ideal observers reveal processing limitations and/or biases intrinsic to the human visual system. The studies proposed will offer a rich, robust set of data on fundamental properties of VOR in humans. This outcome is expected to strongly stimulate future research and to contribute to the formulation of VOR theories with better explanatory power than those available today. COVID19 contingency plan: Due to COVID19, the three testing rooms in our lab have been reorganized such that we can maintain a minimum 2 meter distance from participants at all times. Both the equipment presently available and that requested in our concurrent NSERC Research tools and instruments application are fully compatible with this organization and we thus estimate future interruptions in the lab operations due to the pandemic as highly unlikely.

该研究旨在确定视觉信息的性质和时间过程，该信息将处理与人类中视觉对象识别（VOR）的类别特有机制的早期路由以及以其独特身份为单位的类别特殊机制的操作以及类别特殊机制的操作。我们还旨在研究增长的接受场大小的功能影响，因为加工会移动人类皮层视觉区域的层次结构。这些研究将有助于解决与我们了解人类VOR系统最基本特征有关的杰出问题。为了确定处理时间课程，我们将使用我们开发的一种新的心理物理技术，即随机的时间采样[参见参考。 2]。该方法可以揭示处理有效性如何随着时间的流逝而演变，以及处理的时间特征，这些特征在个人之间非常可复制，并且对刺激类别和/或任务参与者的高度歧视。关于对VOR的视觉信息，将使用两种方法。一种是使用离散小波分解（DWT）对来自不同类别（面，位置，对象和单词）的大量图像的空间特征的分析。 DWT的兴趣是，图像是由本地操作员（Daubechies小波）处理的，该操作员提供了有关规模（即空间范围）和图像对比的方向的局部信息。这些功能特征与人类主要视觉皮层（V1）的功能特征相匹配。 DWT图像描述将有助于表征刺激类别之间的视觉对比度以及这些类别中刺激识别所需的歧视类型。另一种方法是具有无限处理能力的理想观察者模型，或者访问类似于人类低级视觉编码的视觉信息（即对比度敏感性功能，倾斜效应和偏心率的降低视力）。人类参与者的结果与理想观察者之间的分歧揭示了处理局限性和/或人类视觉系统固有的偏见。提出的研究将提供有关人类VOR基本特性的丰富，强大的数据。预计该结果将强烈刺激未来的研究，并为与当今可用的能力更好的解释能力做出贡献。 COVID19应急计划：由于COVID19，我们实验室中的三个测试室已经进行了重组，因此我们可以始终保持与参与者的距离至少2米的距离。目前可用的设备以及我们并发的NSERC研究工具和工具应用中要求的设备都与该组织完全兼容，因此，由于大流行极不可能，我们估计实验室操作中未来的中断。